Wishes that Wrought Destruction
by Cykeclops
Summary: X-Factor deals with the death of Dr. Moria MacTaggart.


X-Men Unlimited Issue #18  
"Wishes that Wrought Destruction"  
A Tale of X-Factor  
By Kari Retzlaff  
  
  
  
"Rhane....I'm sorry."   
  
Alex Summers. Mutant, man, and the leader of the government sponsored X-Factor. But now he is neither of the previously mentioned. For now, as he speaks with his old teammate Rhane Sinclaire, he speaks not as a leader, but as a friend.  
  
"I understand, Rhane, and I'll pass the news along to the rest of X-Factor." Alex sighed. "Rhane, if you need anything--" Alex was cut off by the voice on the other end of the phone. He ran his fingers through his short, blonde hair as he tried to find the words to comfort his friend. "All right, Rhane. I'll tell them..." Alex paused, "And I'm sorry." Alex said sadly as he laid the phone back down upon the cradle.  
  
Alex ran his fingers once again through his short blonde hair as he fell back onto the plush, black leather couch. He placed his head in his hands and sighed deeply as he gathered his thoughts. Okay, Alex. The world is going to come unglued when it hears that the first human has died of the Legacy Virus, not to mention various members of this team.--* (See Excalibur 114.-Kari)Why do we even bother trying -- Alex suddenly froze as he heard the sound of echoing footfalls in the hallway. After a few moments of silence, he finally glanced up to find Lorna Dane, Polaris, slowly walking into the room.   
  
"Alex?" She asked as she stood beside him, looking down upon him.   
  
Lorna Dane. Woman, friend, and mutant. Her mutant abilities to control the magnetic forces, leave her a force to be reckoned with. But today a force bigger than her own maybe on it's way....One that may be bigger than the mutant populace as a whole.  
  
"Dr. MacTaggert...died yesterday of the Legacy Virus." Alex said curtly as he rose to his feet, trying to hide the pain he felt inside for the sake of his team. They needed him to stand strong....not to crumble under the pressure. No one ever said being a leader was easy.   
  
But this was Lorna. The woman he loves....She is more than a teammate. Oh, so much more.  
  
"How is Rhane taking it?" Her voice was more full concern than shock.   
  
Rhane Sinclaire was once a member of the government sponsored team, X-Factor until she learned of her Mother's existence. Or perhaps lack of existence is a better term, for Moria MacTaggert was her mother. And as her teammates know, the breakage of the link between mother and daughter is one that is excruciating.  
  
"Not well." Alex said as pushed himself off of the couch and he left the room with Lorna in pursuit. "She put up a brave front, but she keep holding up like this."  
  
Lorna nodded as she followed Alex into the kitchen. "How is the rest Excalibur taking it?" Lorna asked with a depressed sigh as she poured herself a steaming cup of earl grey and sat across from Alex at the kitchen table.  
  
"I don't know." Alex sighed as he looked at his reflection inside of his cup of coffee, wondering if their future was as murky as his own reflection. "I didn't ask."  
  
Forge entered the kitchen from the opposite side that Alex and Lorna had entered, and began to wash his grease-covered hands as he glanced over his shoulder. "Didn't ask what?" He asked in his usual monotone voice.  
  
He somehow seemed not to be sensing the heaviness that been laid upon both Alex's and Lorna's hearts nor the choking depression that filtered through the morning air. Was his heart seemingly as cold as the metal that was the consistency of his cybernetic arm? No. Forge saw things in a different light. A more rational light.   
  
"Hi Forge." Alex said, still staring down into his coffee cup. The air held a heaviness that seemed unshakable, and even more unbearable. The longer the silence hung, the heavier the burden of grief seemed to be.   
  
Forge, clad in a sleeveless, white T-shirt, reached into the refrigerator with his cybernetic arm, and rifled through its contents until he finally retrieved a coke can from the back with a smirk. "The jet is finished, Alex." He said quickly as he popped the tab on his drink and leaned into the doorframe stoically   
  
"Thanks...Forge...." Alex sighed as he massaged his temples. Lorna solemnly sipped her tea as she absently stared at the opposite wall, trying to sort through the previous tragic events of the day.  
  
"Dare I ask what global disaster has yet struck again?" Forge asked with a small hint of a smile as he tilted the can toward his lips.  
  
Lorna glanced up at him over her cup of tea with a solemn look. "Moria MacTaggert died yesterday." Lorna said matter-of-factly, and almost coldly as she took a sip of her tea.  
  
Lorna puts up a tough front. Alex thought as he looked into the sea of mixed emotions in Lorna's green eyes. She's been through a lot...Both of us have. I guess its no wonder she's reacting the way she is...through all of the death all of us have seen...it's no wonder more of us aren't more like that.  
  
Forge slowly dropped the can from his lips and solemnly looked upon Alex and Lorna, his facial expression only changing to one of seriousness."How did she die?"  
  
"She died of the Legacy Virus." Lorna whispered softly.  
  
Forge asked as he glanced down at his torn running shoes."Have you told the others?"  
  
"Not yet." Alex sighed as he straightened his postured and took a long sip of his coffee, leaving a long, hanging silence as Forge silently left the room in thought.  
  
Lorna glanced back up at him and said, "Sometimes, because it hurts too much to care, its almost better to pretend you don't at all." She sighed, defeatedly, the pain finally penetrating through her walls of defense.  
  
Alex reached across the table and softly placed his hand upon the top of her's as both of them sat in silence. Not a word was shared between them. They shared an understanding that answered where the silence questioned. Not a word was needed to console each other in their pain.  
  
An hour later...back in the living room.  
  
The silence hung heavily between Forge, Havok, and Polaris as the others chatted amongst themselves.  
  
"So why'd you call us in here, 'Lex?" Guido asked as he placed his hands behind his head and grinned. "Gyrich get his fat head stuck in the double doors 'gain?"  
  
Lorna shot him a dirty look, as Alex uncomfortably sighed and fell back into his seat.  
  
"Yeesh! Chill out lady green jeans!" Jamie Maddrox grinned as he bounded into the room, with the tails his flamboyant Hawaiian shirt flapping behind him."By the way you're acting, you'd think someone died!" Jamie fell freely back upon the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table.  
  
"Someone did, Jamie." Forge muttered quietly as he glanced down at Alex, awaiting him to fill the rest of the team in as Pietro arrived.  
  
"Do you wanna pull that foot out of your mouth, Jamie?" Guido said, grinning, trying to lighten the heaviness that had just befallen the room.   
  
It was as if someone had dropped a dropped a piece of crystal and their expressions had shattered like broken glass.  
  
As Alex stood, he took note of everyone's expressions and reactions by taking a sweeping glance of the room. Pietro, in full uniform, remained the perfect example of calmness. His expression mirrored that of a rock, study and unshaken. Jamie sat there, shocked, with his mouth slightly agape. Guido massaged the bridge on his nose, but yet retained the image of someone who was indifference. Alex knew better. Forge's and Lorna's expressions had not changed significantly from their last encounter, but Lorna's eyes held of world of hurt and pain that was probably unseen to the others.  
  
"How did she die, Havok?" Quicksilver asked with little emotion. His seeming lack of empathy unnerved Alex a little as Crystal walked into the room.  
  
"Who died?" Crystal asked as she stood by Pietro.  
  
"Moria MacTaggart." Pietro answered flattly.  
  
"She..."Alex paused to intake a breath." Died of the Legacy Virus." He finished quickly.  
  
"But--that's impossible!" Jamie Maddrox stuttered as he leaned forward. "Humans can't get the Legacy Virus let alone *die* from it....can they?" Jamie's question sounded more as though it had come from a frightened child than it had from a well seasoned member of X-Factor.   
  
"Apparently so." Pietro answered as he leaned in the doorway, his voice nor face ever faltering.  
  
Alex silently nodded, wishing there was another answer he could have given Jamie. Wishing with all of his heart that he could, but nonetheless, the truth remained as barren and cold on their raw nerves as it had always been in the past.  
  
"So the ol' doc finally bit the big one,huh?" Sabertooth grinned, showing his fangs as Lorna gave him a look of disdain.  
  
"Shove it, Creed." Alex muttered as his hands began to glow with golden plasma rings.  
  
Lorna quickly jumped up from her seat. "Alex, STOP! We all know how rough this is on all of us, but right now we can't afford to go flying off of the handle."  
  
Alex nodded as the golden plasma rings dispursed sighing in defeated. He looked down at his feet in sorrow and pain as a long silence ensued.  
  
"Rhane must be takin' it hard." Guido broke the silence, still fully relaxed as he looked from side to side at the others.  
  
Lorna turned to face Guido as she pivoted on the foot stool of the leather arm chair."Alex said she was really torn up about it."  
  
"Alex, you do realize that when the media gets a hold of this information, all hell will break loose, don't you?" Forge asked as he leaned against the wall, his voice full of calm reason.  
  
"I've already considered that, Forge." Alex said, once again assuming his role as team leader, asserting himself above the others and his personal emotions.  
  
"And what did you arrive at?" Pietro challenged, almost daring Alex to come up with an answer.  
  
"Absolutely nothing." Alex sighed defeatedly, breaking his transparent guise, as he looked Pietro in the eye. "This will just have to be storm we'll have to ride out."  
  
"But we just can't sit here..."Jamie said, almost pleadingly.  
  
"There's nothing we can do besides crisis management." Alex said sternly, asserting himself as if he were giving an order. A few moments later, his facial expression relaxed as he turned back to Jamie. " For all we know, the media may already know about this disaster. If they do...," Alex said grimly," there's not turning back."  
  
"And what if they don't?" A woman's voiced echoed from the hall.  
  
"Val." Alex nodded his head in greeting as Pietro stepped out of her way.  
  
"Are you suggesting we keep this under wraps, Dr. Cooper?" Forge asked, eyeing Val warily.  
  
"I don't know what I'm saying anymore, Forge." Val sighed exasperatedly. "All I know is that if we don't do something about this, the public will panic."  
  
"No offense Val, but duh." Jamie shrugged.  
  
"There was no need to restate the obvious, Dr. Cooper." Pietro sighed as he retook his position within the doorframe.  
  
"What I'm trying to say here, people, is that if the public gets wind of this, mutant massacres will happen by the thousands. They'll be witch hunts and murders just to satisfy their ignorance." Val charged.  
  
"I think what everyone is trying to say is, " Lorna paused, " It's not so much of a question as to what will happen as it is how will be controlled."  
  
"That's what I came in here for." Val said exhaustedly. "Havok, Gyrich wants to see you in his office ASAP."  
  
"Wonderful." Alex sighed as he threw his hands into the air exhaustedly.   
  
As he left the room, he could hear Guido calling after him. "Hey 'Lex, don't let Gyrich fry ya with those thick lenses of his. Got that?"  
  
Alex dismissively waved his hand behind as he marched out of the room with a scowl on his face as hr prepared to face the devil, himself.  
  
  
***  
  
  
15 minutes later in the office of Henry Peter Gyrich....  
  
"Summers...." Gyrich said without even glancing up as Havok entered in full uniform.  
  
"It's nice to know you're so glad to see me." Alex replied in the same cold tone that was given to him. He folded his arms across his chest and awaited the usual snide remarks he got from the man.  
  
"This isn't a social call, Summers, and you know it." Gyrich said as he glanced over the top of his glasses. " I assume you've been briefed about the situation, Havok?"  
  
"Yes, sir." Alex sighed grudgingly, putting a hint of sarcasm on the word "sir." He almost smirked as he remembered Guido's comment about Gyrich's glasses as he continued to peer over them.  
  
"Do you find this funny, Summers? I might have expected a *mutant* to laugh at something like this...."  
  
Alex gritted his teeth as he fought a serge of plasma forming within his hand. "I was thinking of something else." Alex said sharply. "What do you want with X-Factor?"  
  
"Well, Summers...."Gyrich paused to take off his glasses as he leaned back in his leather office chair and began to polish them as he spoke. " You're a smart man, Summers. You know what the public will do when they find out about Dr. MacTaggert death."  
  
Alex nodded stiffly, the anger rising in his chest. He heard the door softly shut behind him as Val quietly walked into the room.  
  
"Ah, Dr. Cooper.... I wish I could say it was pleasure." Gyrich said holding his glasses into the light. "But unfortunately, when you're in my office it never is."  
  
"Get to the point,Gyrich." Alex muttered angrily.  
  
"My point...Summers ... is that with all of the anti-mutant hysteria as of late, mutants being associated with the government might be...oh, I don't know...A health risk so to speak."  
  
"You can't do that!!!" Alex slammed both of his fists down on Gyrich's desk, causing a fury of papers to fly off of it.   
  
"You don't have the guts or the authority, Gyrich!" Val charged, lightning flashing within her eyes.  
  
"I suggest both of you control your tempers." Gyrich said coolly as he rested his elbows upon the desk. "But you're right of course, Dr. Cooper. I don't. I am merely extrapolating on some possibilities that may affect your futures."  
  
"Possibilities that you'll be pushing all the way..." Val sneered.  
  
Gyrich only smiled as Havok's shoulders slumped as he began to slowly walk through the double doors of Gyrich's office.  
  
"I'm not through with you, Summers." Gyrich shouted after him.  
  
"LOOK." Alex quickly spun on his heels and pointed an accusing finger at Gyrich. "You always wanted mutants dead without soiling your precious reputation in process." Alex sighed as he turned and began to walk away once again with his fists clenched. "Now with the Legacy Virus," He paused,"...it looks your wish came true."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
